watercolor and things that fall out of my fingers, art, watercolor, words. I sell stuff too! Email me at martha@marthakeim.com

Khadi Cat

It’s Bonfire Night and the sound of exploding fireworks is unsettling Sparta Puss, who is alternating between dozing fitfully on my stool and pacing around the living room. I have a few small Khadi sketchbooks, beautiful textured handmade paper from India and some sepia walnut ink I made recently, so I grabbed a brush and started sketching her in transit. I’d previously coloured the paper with wet tea bags to break up the white with a pale brown wash, speckled by the rough texture of the paper.

I sketched her dozing, which is the page I’m least pleased with; then pacing around. She has one of those very expressive question mark tails, constantly curling around itself and it was fun following the movement with a sable brush. Finally, a couple of sketches, just a few seconds each, of her sitting down, watching me watching her. Most of the fireworks have…